Amy Barlow (Elle Mulvaney) recently became involved with sinister cult The Institute on Coronation Street and took part in the process that The Institute calls ‘uploading.’
This is where the participant talks about their deepest traumas. It’s a daunting prospect, particularly for someone who has gone through the trauma of rape as Amy has. Leanne (Jane Danson) reassured Amy that she would feel better for having gone through the process, so Amy trusted her and agreed.
As Amy described her traumas, Leanne was shocked to realise that Rowan Cunliffe (Emrhys Cooper) was recording her words. She challenged him and he said it was to help with her training and they would delete the recording as soon as they’d used it.
Unaware of all this, Amy did feel better having unburdened herself and decided she wanted to invest her inheritance from her gran in the organisation.
The next step for Amy was a so-called ‘malware’ session. This is something that Leanne also went through, when blindfolded other members of the cult bombarded her with insults.
This time Amy was severely traumatised by the experience, as Elle Mulvaney told us.
‘When we went for the take, I put the blindfold on, I obviously ended up crying as Amy, but it was real. It felt really real because you feel so disoriented. You don’t know where you are, you don’t recognise the voices. It’s all done to make Amy feel that way, and that’s how Rowan gets you. It’s because he wants you to feel uncomfortable, because then you rely on him, he breaks people down for him to be able to sort of build them back up again.’
Amy rushed home to tell Ken (William Roache) she no longer wanted to invest in the cult. Unfortunately he had already transferred the money – £40k – and the Institute had no intention of giving it back.
In upcoming episodes Leanne offers Amy her job at the bistro back. She also tries to persuade Amy to drop her case against the Institute, trying to reason with her that everything that happened at the malware session was for her own good and the Institute only want what’s best for her.
Amy is still thinking about what she’s going to do when she receives a voice message from an unknown caller on her phone. As she listens, she’s overcome with horror.
What has she heard?
